Democrats Would Be OK With a Military Coup Removing Donald Trump: Poll

Most Democratic voters surveyed in September said they would react positively to a hypothetical U.S. military takeover that removed President Donald Trump from office and put military leaders in control of the government.

The scenario, presented as an action taken “to safeguard the Constitution,” drew a positive response from 59% of those surveyed.

Twenty-eight percent reacted negatively, while 13% said they would feel neither positively nor negatively.

Military Scenario Draws Majority Positive Response

The poll was commissioned by Liberal Currents and conducted by the Center for Strategic Politics among 683 self-identified Democratic voters.

Respondents were asked how they would feel if they woke up to one of five hypothetical headlines describing Trump leaving office before the end of his term.

In the military scenario, 43% said they would feel “very positive” and another 16% “somewhat positive.” Negative responses were divided between 18% “very negative” and 10% “somewhat negative.”

The wording explicitly described military leaders removing Trump, assuming control and running the country, while presenting the action as intended “to safeguard the Constitution.”

The result measures respondents’ emotional reaction to that hypothetical headline.

It did not ask whether they would participate in, organize, or support carrying out an actual military takeover.

Constitutional Removal Draws Broader Support

Removal through established constitutional mechanisms produced substantially larger positive majorities.

About 86% to 87% reacted positively to Trump being impeached and convicted by Congress, with roughly three-quarters describing their reaction as very positive.

Another 84% reacted positively to removal under the 25th Amendment, including about 70% who said they would feel very positive.

The pollsters characterized the questions as testing “five routes for Trump to leave office before the end of his term.”

Chance Phillips, the Liberal Currents writer who commissioned the survey, described respondents as “happy with just about any way that Trump could be removed.”

Death and Assassination Scenarios

The survey also tested reactions to Trump dying overnight in his sleep.

About 55% to 56% responded positively to that scenario, while 16% to 17% reacted negatively.

Assassination produced a different result. Between 31% and 32% reacted positively to a hypothetical headline saying Trump had been assassinated at a rally, compared with 43% who reacted negatively and 25% who were neutral.

It was the only one of the five scenarios to generate a net-negative response.

Phillips said the findings showed that “on net, Democrats are not pro political violence,” citing the negative balance on assassination.

Survey Was Limited to Democratic Voters

The survey was conducted on September 3 and September 8-10 using SMS-to-web and online panels.

Respondents were screened against voter-file information, and the sample was weighted by age, ethnicity, and gender. The poll reported a margin of error of ±3.75 percentage points.

The survey covered Democratic voters only and therefore does not provide comparable measurements for Republicans, Independents, or the electorate as a whole.

Its findings may also have been affected by question wording and order, including the military scenario’s description of the takeover as an effort to protect the Constitution.

The Center for Strategic Politics identifies itself with the progressive community, while Liberal Currents is a left-liberal publication. The pollster released the full crosstabs publicly.